Bed pan



Aprii 17, 1956 E. c. LOYE 2,741,777

BED PAN Filed Feb. 2, 1953 INVENTOR. Eon/ye C. 4 0Y5 United States Patent BED PAN Edward C. Loye, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application February 2, 1953, Serial No. 334,439

2 Claims. (Cl. 4-112) My invention relates to improvements in bed pans. The bed pan is obviously for use by persons in such physical condition as to be physically weak or in pain,

and the effort necessary for the use of toilet tissue while the patient is on the pan is an additional stress over and beyond that which is necessarily incident to its use. Removal of the patient from the pan before the use of toilet tissue is, of course, not desirable or cleanly.

The invention herein described has for its general object the provision of a port in the wall of a bed pan so shaped and positioned as to permit manual access to the interior of the bed pan while the patient is in normal position, as relaxed as reasonably possible upon the pan. The invention makes it unnecessary to partially turn the patient to one side with concurrent danger of tipping the pan. Furthermore, the improvement includes the provision of a shelf-like flange extending inwardly, or inwardly and slightly upwardly fromthe lower margins of the port and with an upturned margin making a trough-like flange to prevent spillage of the contents of the pan.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a bed pan including my access ports for manual access to the space in the pan.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary portion of the pan of Fig. 1 to show the interior thereof and the manner in which a shelf is disposed alongthe inner lower margin of the port.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig.1.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing only the rear portion of the pan and showing a trough-like shelf upwardly and inwardly extended from the access port.

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

The bed pan includes a bottom 11 merging into side walls .12 and 13 and end walls 14 and 15. The walls 12, 13 and 14 are molded into the top flange 16. It is upon the flange 16 that the user is seated.

The side walls are usually about four and a half inches in their greatest vertical dimension and they taper to a lesser dimension at the front end 15. The end wall is about four and a half inches in its vertical dimension.

It is at or near the rear corners that I provide ports 17 and 18 in a location providing manual access to the interior of the pan when a patient is using it. Any shape of port to provide for entry of a persons hand while holding toilet tissue or medication is satisfactory, but the location of the port is preferably somewhat rearwardly of the center portion of a side wall. The optimum convenience is to be attained if the port is at the rearward quarter thereof as shown in the drawings.

- In its simplest form, my invention is realized by cutting or stamping the material of the pan whereby to move a wall portion 20 inwardly along a fold line 21 somewhat above the bottom 11 and approximately parallel therewith. By somewhat above, I mean that the fold line 2,741,777 Patented Apr. 17, 1956 or line of attachment of the shelf-like member 20 with the wall is high enough above the bottom 11 to minimize the chance of spillage of pan contents. An inch for this dimension is probably a minimum, and to provide an adequate port, I have found that a top margin 22 of the port will be located in the area where the curved margin 23 marks the merging of the side wall with the flange 16. In fact I have found that even then the port may be small for some person with large hands unless the over-all height of the side walls is five inches or more and the port extends broadly from a practical low limit at 21 into the curved portion at 23. I

To gain a free access with a larger port, I provide a construction as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 where it will be seen that the lower margin of the port is at 25, close to the bottom 11 of the pan. Here I attach a trough-like shelf 26 having trough sides 27 and 28. The trough extends inwardly and upwardly and the widest portions of the generally triangular side walls 27 and 28 are at their liquid tight junction with the side Walls 12 or 13 of the pan 10.

This trough-like shelf 2623 provides a greater pro tection against spillage of pan contents and at the same time provides a greater port opening. The port extends much more closely to the bottom of the pan. In fact the only limitation is that the angle between the shelf 26 and the bottom 11 must not be so acute and sharp as to make cleaning diflicult.

It will be understood that a shelf 20 or 26 assists greatly in supporting the hand of a patient or nurse While toilet tissue is being used, and the use of my improved pan removed the necessity for the partial lifting or turning of the patients body during use of toilet tissue. As a heart patient, I have found that this improved pan is an especial relief from much of the strain and exertion heretofore encountered in the use of ordinary bed pans.

I claim:

l. A bed pan having a side wall ported for manual insertion and manipulation of toilet tissue therethrough, and an inwardly extending trough-shaped insert in leak proof connection to the said wall along the lower portions of the margins of the port.

2. A bed pan having a bottom and side walls, the side walls being inturned along their upper margins to provide a body supporting upper flange, one of the side walls being provided with an unobstructed port sufficiently large to provide access of a hand to the interior of the pan, the upper margin of the port being adjacent the flange, the lower margin of the port being substantially parallel with the bottom of the pan and provided with an inturned upwardly extending shelf-like flange equipped with side margins upturned and integrally molded to the lower portion of the side margins of the port whereby to avoid spillage of the contents of the pan.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 535,241 Fischer Mar. 5, 1895 657,819 Goodrich Sept. 11, 1900 680,022 Charles Aug. 6, 1901 753,229 Burns et a1. Mar. 1, 1904 1,400,074 Karrakis Dec. 13, 1921 1,501,678 McNetton July 15, 1924 1,769,482 Allcutt July 1, 1930 2,166,480 Schermerhorn July 18, 1939 2,320,845 Bolton June 1, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 105,021 Great Britain Mar. 29, 1917 

